Classic Refuse Trucks HEIL

Heil Formula 6000 Side Loader

After a twenty year hiatus, Heil returned to the side loader market in late 1980 with the Formula 6000 series, as the company continued its aggressive pursuit to develop the most compete refuse equipment product line in the industry. The 6000 was a classic California-style drop-frame unit, which required modification of a standard truck chassis by lowering the frame rails behind the cab to accommodate the loading hopper. The simple sliding-drawer packer plate would shove refuse through the hopper, up an incline, and into the main body. With no ejector and a simplified packer, this type of side loader offers drastically reduced weight and increased volume.

Three sizes were offered; 22, 26 and 36-cubic yards capacity, all with a one yard hopper. The 36-yard model weighed 10,500 pounds, which was almost 5,000 pounds less than a 32-yard Formula 5000 rear loader! What the side loader lacked in sheer packing power was made up by the big increase in capacity and legal payload. Loading height of 1" above the truck frame is a good as it gets, and made these bodies an excellent choice for one-man operations, with right-hand drive conversion. Heil added some interesting features, including a hydraulic-powered, vertical retaining panel to prevent fallback into the hopper. To decrease wear and tear on the seals, the body automatically moved rearward three inches before tilting to dump the load.

The 6000 was a nice addition to the Heil lineup, at a time when drop-frame side loaders were seeing more and more use outside of the western states where they made their reputation in the 1960s. However, Heil faced stiff competition from Shu-Pak and Maxon, which had long dominated this market, as well as E-Z Pack which introduced a similar body around the same time. Additionally, there were the numerous independent firms in the state of California building these side loaders which had a tight grip on the western markets. Thus the Formula 6000 was destined have a very short production run, although probably not due to any faults of its own. Besides, the emerging trend was in automated collection, and Heil would soon enter that field in big way.

The chopper; hydraulic-powered load-retention panel to prevent "fallback" into hopper

Body slides back three inches from hopper before tilting to help protect seals

Rare bird: an early-1980s Formula 6000 which was for sale in 2008

REFERENCES

Solid Wastes Management/Refuse Removal Journal, September 1980, page 54
Heil's New Drop Frame Side Loader Features Crusher Panel, High Density

5/29/17